The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1887-03-23
a FAMOUS s12o,ooo aAPHAEL.
A story Concerning the Precious Little
InrieI. s.TIla TIhree lsrr,e...- .,


A story Concerning the Precious Little
Panel. 1.-THE Three Graees.',
The DUO d'Aurnale has the true coll
Iector,s love for his treasures. and. If
there is ANYTHING that can at an console
him In that exile to which he has been
stupidity condemned, it is the company Of
his pet pictures and his fayorfte books.
"A day or two ago the we'll known Lon
don specialist in autographs, II. Thibau-
deau, came to gossip with me for half an
hour ON his way through Paris in quest
of new treasures. Now, it was Tflibau-
deau who sold the Due d 'Aumale his
famous S120, 900 Raphael, that precious
Z little panel, just about four inches square,
on which the master of Urbino has painted
three women supposed to represent the
tsThree Graces. Naturally, we had
some talk about ChantiIly and about this
famous painting.
After the death of its last owner, the
Rev. Fuller Russell, N. Thibaudeau, who
had won the confidence of the Duo
d'Aumale In important transactions con-
corning autographs of the Condo family,
was charged with the purchase of the
picture, and, hiking concluded the
affair, he arrived &c morning at Chan
lilly with the Raphael under his arm.
He was shown into room. In few
minutes the DUO d Aumale came hobbling
in, his govt troubling him little that
morning, and seeing the Raphael he ex-
claimed In joyful banter: s.Ahi You
have brought me another picture, have
you? see you are determined to ruin
me-" Then, after admiring the picture
and examining it infinitely, the duke laid
it on the table. 'sEh bieni Allons de-
jeunerl Let us go to breakfast, he said,
and to breakfast they went. But the
duke could not forget the Raphael, and
after the first course he ordered the pict-
ure to be brought in and placed ON a
chair, where he could see it while he was
eating. The picture was under glass in
a lock frame of which the key was lost.
t.What nuisancel If we could only see
It without the glassl'
Thibaudeau asked for chisel. eNol
Mol You will spoil it. However,
Tlribaudeau persisted, removed the back
of the frame, and took out the panel.
The glass was coated with English SCOT,
and the precious panel likewise. Then,
taking some soft bread crumbs, Thibau-
deau rubbed the panel gently and gradn-
ally removed all the dirt, and the Raphael
appeared in all its pristine brilliancy.
The panel is now a solid silver frame,
and the Due d'Aumale is preparing a
monograph on the work, to which he
thinks the title of 1.-THE Three Graces'' is
wrongly given. The subject is indeed
rather curious; it represents three women
standing in group face to face. The
woman in the centre is entirely nude,
and has her back turned to the public;
the woman on the left has band of
drapery around her loins; the woman on
the right is entirely nude and younger
than the other two. Each of the three
holds in one hand an apple, like the
victorious goddess in the Judgment of
Paris" The Due d'Aumale has a theory
that this group is an allegory of tho three
periods of feminine beauty, and repre-
sents the marIiageable virgin, the young
mother and-the mature matron, In sup
port of this theory tho duke has dis
covered much interesting matter in
Italian literature of the Renaissance
period.-Paris Cor. New York Sun.